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  • PTAB · Dec 20, 2018 · IPR2018-00475 · APJ Bart A Gerstenblith · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied Google’s rehearing request and left in place denial of institution because the Petition did not show Cheyer was publicly accessible prior art.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “trial is set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c), which provides in relevant part: “When rehearing a decision on petition, a panel will review the decision for an abuse of discretion.” Section 42.71(c), in turn, references 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d), which provides a request for rehearing “must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). The party challenging a decision bears the burden of showing the decision should be modified. Id.” slip op. at 3

    • Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Prior-art status of a reference › Printed publication / public accessibilityPrinted publication not establishedNot shown unpatentable

      “There is no evidence that whatever version of Cheyer (if any) was linked on the SRI website was ever downloaded, or that a search engine could have been used to find it. Thus, even if we were to assume that Cheyer was available online (i.e., technical availability), Petitioner fails to point to any persuasive evidence of public accessibility to the document or the SRI website.” slip op. at 5

    • Other 314aDenied

      “request, or panels to authorize, an expanded panel. See generally 35 U.S.C. § 6; 37 C.F.R. §§ 41.1–42.412. The Chief Judge may consider panel expansions upon a “suggestion” from a judge, panel, or party. PTAB SOP 1,” slip op. at 11

    § 102 anticipationDiscretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 6,742,021
  • PTAB · Dec 20, 2018 · IPR2018-00384 · APJ Thomas L Giannetti · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied Google’s rehearing request, leaving institution denied for claims 1–18 because the petition did not show Cheyer was publicly accessible and qualified as prior art.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “trial is set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c), which provides in relevant part: “When rehearing a decision on petition, a panel will review the decision for an abuse of discretion.” Section 42.71(c), in turn, references 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d), which provides a request for rehearing “must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). The party challenging a decision bears the burden of showing the decision should be modified. Id.” slip op. at 3

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied

      “trial is set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c), which provides in relevant part: “When rehearing a decision on petition, a panel will review the decision for an abuse of discretion.” Section 42.71(c), in turn, references 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d), which provides a request for rehearing “must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). The party challenging a decision bears the burden of showing the decision should be modified. Id.” slip op. at 3

    • Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Prior-art status of a reference › Printed publication / public accessibilityPrinted publication not establishedNot shown unpatentable

      “There is no evidence that whatever version of Cheyer (if any) was linked on the SRI website was ever downloaded, or that a search engine could have been used to find it. Thus, even if we were to assume that Cheyer was available online (i.e., technical availability), Petitioner fails to point to any persuasive evidence of public accessibility to the document or the SRI website.” slip op. at 5

    § 102 anticipation
    Patents in suitUS 6,523,061
  • PTAB · Dec 20, 2018 · IPR2018-00474 · APJ Bart A Gerstenblith · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied Google’s rehearing request, leaving institution denied on all challenged claims because Cheyer was not shown reasonably likely to have been publicly accessible as prior art.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “trial is set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c), which provides in relevant part: “When rehearing a decision on petition, a panel will review the decision for an abuse of discretion.” Section 42.71(c), in turn, references 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d), which provides a request for rehearing “must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). The party challenging a decision bears the burden of showing the decision should be modified. Id.” slip op. at 3

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied

      “we denied the Petition as to all claims. We determined that Petitioner had failed to satisfy its burden of demonstrating a reasonable likelihood of showing, under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b), that its principal reference, Cheyer,1 was disseminated or publicly accessible prior to one year before the effective filing date of the ’021 patent and, therefore, did not qualify as prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). Dec. 6–15.” slip op. at 2

    • Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Prior-art status of a reference › Printed publication / public accessibilityPrinted publication not establishedNot shown unpatentable

      “There is no evidence that whatever version of Cheyer (if any) was linked on the SRI website was ever downloaded, or that a search engine could have been used to find it. Thus, even if we were to assume that Cheyer was available online (i.e., technical availability), Petitioner fails to point to any persuasive evidence of public accessibility to the document or the SRI website. Id. at 14.” slip op. at 5

    • Other 314aDenied

      “request, or panels to authorize, an expanded panel. See generally 35 U.S.C. § 6; 37 C.F.R. §§ 41.1–42.412. The Chief Judge may consider panel expansions upon a “suggestion” from a judge, panel, or party. PTAB SOP 1,” slip op. at 11

    § 102 anticipationDiscretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 6,742,021
  • PTAB · Oct 17, 2018 · IPR2017-00467 · APJ Kamran Jivani · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied rehearing, leaving institution denied because the Uchida and Bramhill combination did not show the claimed write restriction for claims 15, 18, 24, and 25.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “The burden of showing a decision should be modified lies with the party challenging the decision.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). We “review [our] decision for an abuse of discretion.” Id. § 42.71(c). The request for rehearing “must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” Id. § 42.71(d). slip op. at 2

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Not shown unpatentable

      “In our Decision, we determined Petitioner failed to show a reasonable likelihood of success on its challenges combining Uchida and Bramhill because Petitioner failed to show teachings or suggestions sufficient to meet the following limitation of independent claim 15: “providing restricted-access to the storage device when the storage device does not store the device-specific security information by preventing the digital data from being written to the storage device during the write access.” Dec. 13–15. We similarly determined Petitioner failed to show teachings or suggestions sufficient to meet the commensurate limitation recited in independent claim 18: “configuring the storage drive to prevent write access to the storage device when the security information is not sensed.” Id. at 15.” slip op. at 3

    None
    Patents in suitUS 6,968,459
  • PTAB · Sep 27, 2018 · IPR2016-01404 · APJ Kamran Jivani · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board granted the motion to excuse late filing and denied rehearing, maintaining that claims 1, 2, 13, 14, 33, 34, 39, 46, and 48 were not shown unpatentable over Bensimon.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “The burden of showing a decision should be modified lies with the party challenging the decision . . .” who “must specifically identify all matters the party believes [we] misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). Petitioner’s argument is predicated upon a mischaracterization of our factual findings. Petitioner asserts that we found Bensimon “taught all of the elements of the claim in ‘one possible mode of operation.’” Reh’g Req. 1 (citing Decision 17). We, however, made no such finding. The phrase that Petitioner attributes to us—namely, “one possible mode of operation”—does not appear anywhere in our Final Written Decision. Compare Reh’g Req. 1 (citing Decision 17) to Decision 17. Contrary to Petitioner’s assertions, we did not find “that Bensimon sometimes teaches all of the elements of the claim” nor did we find “that Bensimon discloses a ‘restricted-access mode’ by disclosing a ‘write protection’ mode.” Reh’g Req. 1–3 (citing Decision, 16–17). Rather, we found the exact opposite—that Bensimon fails to disclose the claimed restricted-access mode because, as claimed, that mode requires the absence of the claimed device-specific security information (i.e. the read/write password, or alternatively the combination of the read/write password and password-enabling flag). Decision 16–17 (citing Reply 16– 22) (“Petitioner identifies Bensimon’s read/write password, alone or in combination with the password-enabling flag, as the device-specific security information, yet Petitioner does not identify in Bensimon an explicit disclosure that Bensimon’s storage device operates in the claimed restricted-access mode when the read/write password is absent from the device.”) (bolding added; italics original). slip op. at 5

    • Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Anticipation standard (single reference, every element)Not shown unpatentableNot shown unpatentable

      “claim” nor did we find “that Bensimon discloses a ‘restricted-access mode’ by disclosing a ‘write protection’ mode.” Reh’g Req. 1–3 (citing Decision, 16–17). Rather, we found the exact opposite—that Bensimon fails to disclose the claimed restricted-access mode because, as claimed, that mode requires the absence of the claimed device-specific security information (i.e. the read/write password, or alternatively the combination of the read/write password and password-enabling flag). Decision 16–17 (citing Reply 16– 22) (“Petitioner identifies Bensimon’s read/write password, alone or in combination with the password-enabling flag, as the device-specific security information, yet Petitioner does not identify in Bensimon an explicit disclosure that Bensimon’s storage device operates in the claimed restricted-access mode when the read/write password is absent from the device.”) (bolding added; italics original).” slip op. at 6

    § 102 anticipation
    Patents in suitUS 6,968,459
  • PTAB · Aug 3, 2018 · IPR2017-02145 · APJ John A Evans · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied rehearing, leaving in place its denial of institution because Petitioner did not show that the Board overlooked or misapprehended its obviousness arguments.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d), which provides in relevant part: A party dissatisfied with a decision may file a single request for rehearing[,] without prior authorization from the Board. The burden of showing a decision should be modified lies with the party challenging the decision. The request must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply. A rehearing request is not an opportunity for the requesting party to reargue its case or merely to express disagreement with the Final Decision, which is all Petitioner has done in this instance.” slip op. at 3

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied

      “In denying the Petition, the Board determined Petitioner did not present a sufficient rationale for combining either Dingman (Ex. 1007, US 2004/0024879 A1) or Flowers (Ex. 1014, US 2003/0105812 A1) with Cook (Ex. 1011, US Patent No. 7,424,736 B2) under KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418 (2007)(“‘[T]here must be some articulated reasoning with some rational underpinning to support the legal conclusion of obviousness.’”) (quoting In re Kahn, 441 F.3d 977, 988 (Fed. Cir. 2006)). Decision 17, 19–20. Petitioner requests rehearing of our decision not to institute inter partes review. Paper 10, (“Rehearing Request,” “Req. Reh’g.”). Petitioner states two grounds for rehearing. Req. Reh’g. 1. The stated grounds are: (1) the Board overlooked or misapprehended “the legal significance of the evidence confirming that the ‘notifications’ limitation is trivial”; and (2) the Board overlooked or misapprehended the legal significance of Cook’s teachings of “additional benefits of its notification scheme.” Id. at 1–2. For the reasons that follow, Petitioner’s request for rehearing is denied.” slip op. at 2

    • Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation not foundNot shown unpatentableNot shown unpatentable

      “The Decision concludes that Petitioner failed to provide sufficient persuasive evidence or reasoned explanation upon which we could make a finding of motivation to combine the Dingman and Cook references. Decision 16.” slip op. at 5

    § 103 obviousnesscites KSR
    Patents in suitUS 7,814,216
  • PTAB · Feb 5, 2018 · CBM2017-00047 · APJ Michael W Kim · CBM · Rehearing

    The Board denied Yahoo!’s rehearing request, leaving in place the denial of institution on the § 101 challenge to claims 1, 2-4, 11-13, 16-17, and 20-22.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “requesting party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). When rehearing a decision on institution, the Board will review the decision for an abuse of discretion. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c).” slip op. at 2

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied

      “matter, resolution of this issue in Petitioner’s favor is not dispositive, as Petitioner still failed to account sufficiently for the terms “offsite” and “targeted” (to say nothing of “first Internet site,” “second Internet site,” and directing off-site advertisements to visitors of the second Internet site as a consequence of determining visits to the first Internet site “using the tags and the records,” as also recited in claim 1). See Decision 11–14. Moreover, Petitioner’s assertion is incorrect, as while certainly at times, an omission of “Internet” from an identification of what a claim is directed to is proper, our review of the case law cited by Petitioner does not support a blanket assertion that the term “Internet” should never be considered in this manner, under any circumstances. See, e.g., DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P., 773 F.3d 1245, 1256–57 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (under Alice step one, the court held that “[a]lthough the claims address a business challenge (retaining website visitors), it is a challenge particular to the Internet”). We are unpersuaded that we could have misapprehended or overlooked that which is incorrect.” slip op. at 6

    • Patent Eligibility (§101) › Alice/Mayo step one — 'directed to'Step1 not directed to exceptionNot shown unpatentable

      “matter, resolution of this issue in Petitioner’s favor is not dispositive, as Petitioner still failed to account sufficiently for the terms “offsite” and “targeted” (to say nothing of “first Internet site,” “second Internet site,” and directing off-site advertisements to visitors of the second Internet site as a consequence of determining visits to the first Internet site “using the tags and the records,” as also recited in claim 1). See Decision 11–14. Moreover, Petitioner’s assertion is incorrect, as while certainly at times, an omission of “Internet” from an identification of what a claim is directed to is proper, our review of the case law cited by Petitioner does not support a blanket assertion that the term “Internet” should never be considered in this manner, under any circumstances. See, e.g., DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P., 773 F.3d 1245, 1256–57 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (under Alice step one, the court held that “[a]lthough the claims address a business challenge (retaining website visitors), it is a challenge particular to the Internet”). We are unpersuaded that we could have misapprehended or overlooked that which is incorrect.” slip op. at 6

    § 101 eligibility
    Patents in suitUS 8,244,586
  • PTAB · Feb 5, 2018 · CBM2017-00046 · APJ Michael W Kim · CBM · Rehearing

    The Board denied Yahoo!’s rehearing request, leaving in place the denial of institution on the § 101 challenge to claims 1–8, 10, 13–16, 24, 27–29, 31, 32, 36, 37, 39, and 41–47.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “II. ANALYSIS A request for rehearing must identify specifically all matters the requesting party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). When rehearing a decision on institution, the Board will review the decision for an abuse of discretion. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c).” slip op. at 2

    • Patent Eligibility (§101) › Alice/Mayo step one — 'directed to'Step1 not directed to exceptionNot shown unpatentable

      “targeted” (to say nothing of “first Internet site,” “second Internet site,” and directing off-site advertisements to visitors of the second Internet site as a consequence of determining visits to the first Internet site “using the tags and the records,” as also recited in claim 1). See Decision 11–14. Moreover, Petitioner’s assertion is incorrect, as while certainly at times, an omission of “Internet” from an identification of what a claim is directed to is proper, our review of the case law cited by Petitioner does not support a blanket assertion that the term “Internet” should never be considered in this manner, under any circumstances. See, e.g., DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P., 773 F.3d 1245, 1256–57 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (under Alice step one, the court held that “[a]lthough the claims address a business challenge (retaining website visitors), it is a challenge particular to the Internet”). We are unpersuaded that we could have misapprehended or overlooked that which is incorrect. slip op. at 6

    § 101 eligibility
    Patents in suitUS 7,822,639
  • PTAB · Nov 17, 2016 · IPR2016-00840 · APJ Thomas L Giannetti · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied rehearing, leaving institution denied for claims 32, 51, 70–79, and 105–111 because Petitioner did not show Aiteanu taught or suggested comparing performance data to known parameters.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “When rehearing a decision on petition, a panel will review the decision for an abuse of discretion.” Section 42.71(c), in turn, references 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d), which provides in relevant part: The burden of showing a decision should be modified lies with the party challenging the decision. The request must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply. slip op. at 3

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied meritsInstitution denied

      “claims, we did not rely on the lack of disclosure of an algorithm in the ’398 patent in concluding that Petitioner had failed to carry its burden of demonstrating obviousness. Instead, we considered Petitioner’s analysis of Aiteanu and found it insufficient to persuade us that the “comparison” element was met: The description in that analysis does not teach or suggest a comparison to known parameters. See [Pet.] 19–21. Because we conclude that Aiteanu does not teach or suggest such a comparison, we determine that Petitioner has failed to establish a reasonable likelihood of succeeding on its challenge to these claims. Dec. 22–23. These insufficiencies in the Petition are not cured by attacking the ’398 patent’s disclosure, nor is Petitioner relieved its burden of proving the claims unpatentable. In re Magnum Oil Tools Int’l, Ltd., 829 F.3d 1364, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (“In an inter partes review . . . , the petitioner shall have the burden of proving a proposition of unpatentability by a preponderance of the evidence.”) (citation omitted).” slip op. at 7

    • Obviousness (§103) › Graham factors (scope of art, differences, level of skill)Not shown unpatentableNot shown unpatentable

      “Id. at 16 (emphasis added) (citation omitted). The Board found Petitioner’s analysis of this element in relation to Aiteanu insufficient to describe a comparison to known parameters to arrive at this quality characteristic. Dec. 22. Petitioner’s main argument in its Rehearing Request focuses on a different alleged “quality characteristic” in Aiteanu, namely torch position. Req. Reh’g 5–6. The Petition did not present such an argument, and therefore the Board could not have been overlooked or misapprehended it. Instead, we addressed the argument presented by Petitioner: that calculated weld seam thickness was based on a comparison of known parameters. Pet. 16. For the reasons stated in our Institution Decision and in the Preliminary Response (at pp. 38–39), we concluded that Petitioner did not present sufficient proof that Aiteanu met this condition.” slip op. at 5

    § 103 obviousness
  • PTAB · Jun 25, 2015 · CBM2014-00030 · APJ Thomas L Giannetti · CBM · Rehearing

    The Board denied Patent Owner’s rehearing request, leaving claims 1–23 unpatentable under § 101 because no matter was overlooked or misapprehended and the Board did not abuse its discretion.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “A party dissatisfied with a decision may file a request for rehearing, without prior authorization from the Board. The burden of showing a decision should be modified lies with the party challenging the decision. The request must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, opposition, or a reply. In Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 134 S. Ct. 2347, 2355” slip op. at 3

    • Expert testimonyPetitioner expert creditedPatent owner expert discountedDecided for petitioner

      “Patent Owner’s expert does not rebut convincingly Dr. Myers’s claim-by-claim analysis. Instead, Patent Owner’s expert addresses the claims in two groups only. Ex. 2003, ¶¶ 26–28. We find this approach unconvincing, and therefore, credit Dr. Myers’s testimony as to specific claims over the testimony of Patent Owner’s expert.” slip op. at 8

    • Patent Eligibility (§101) › Alice/Mayo step one — 'directed to'Step1 directed to exceptionUnpatentable

      “Decision. The first statement, regarding “abstract level,” was cited twice in the Final Decision. In the first instance, the citation followed a discussion of the first element of the Alice test. Final Dec. 9. Patent Owner’s main argument was that the ʼ382 patent did not fall within the categories of unpatentable, abstract ideas enumerated in Alice. Without reference to Mr. Martin’s testimony, the Board agreed with Petitioners that these enumerated categories are not exclusive. Id. The Board went on to state in a sentence that they were “influenced” by Mr. Martin’s testimony, which is then quoted in full, in determining that the patent is directed to an abstract idea. But the Board also had before it Dr. Myers’ testimony to the same effect. Myers Decl. ¶¶ 24–27. The second citation of this statement by Mr. Martin, also in a single sentence,1 follows a lengthy discussion of the patent claims based on the oral argument and Dr. Myers’ analysis. Final Dec. 11–14.” slip op. at 6

    • Patent Eligibility (§101) › Alice/Mayo step two — inventive conceptStep2 no inventive conceptUnpatentable

      “[Patent Owner’s] supposed “inventive concept”—“delivering tailored web pages through an interactive interface as a function of web site navigation history”—fails to meet this standard. It is merely a restatement of the ’382 patent’s abstract idea (i.e., “tailoring an information provider’s web pages based on data about a particular information user”). This “concept” fails to include how to tailor web pages or use the web site navigation data. It therefore cannot “ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent upon the ineligible concept itself,” as required by Alice Corp. Pet. Reply 5–6 (footnote omitted). Nor are we persuaded that the argument was overlooked or misapprehended by the Board. The Board considered all arguments presented. The Board was not persuaded by Patent Owner’s argument on this issue. In fact, this argument was rejected by the Federal Circuit in Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC, 772 F.3d 709, 714 (Fed. Cir. 2014). The patent owner there argued “abstract ideas remain patent-eligible under §101 as long as they are new ideas, not previously well known, and not routine activity.” Ultramercial, 772 F.3d at 714. The Federal Circuit rejected this argument, concluding “[w]e agree with [defendant] that the claims of the ʼ545 patent are not directed to patent-eligible subject matter.” Id. Petitioners cite this very holding of Ultramercial in their response to Patent Owner’s “inventive concept” argument. Pet. Reply 5, n.1. We, therefore, did not overlook or misapprehend the “inventive concept” argument put forth by Patent Owner. We simply found Petitioners’ argument more persuasive under the prevailing legal authorities, including Ultramercial.” slip op. at 4

    § 101 eligibilitycites Alice
    Patents in suitUS 7,603,382
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